"We are pleased to announce an agreement in principle that should allow for an amicable resolution of this matter," said Richard Rosenblatt, chief executive officer of Intermix. "Our mandate was to remove this obstacle to the company's continued upward trend and to place this legacy business and related issues behind us.”
The terms of the settlement provide that Intermix will pay the State of New York $7.5 million over three years and will permanently discontinue distribution of its adware, redirect and toolbar programs.
The company has not admitted any wrongdoing or liability and expects the final agreement to reflect this fact.
The case dates back to April, when Spitzer filed suit, seeking an injunction against the Los Angeles-based company, an account for all revenues earned, and damages.
Intermix, said Sptizer, had installed a wide range of spyware software that is used to collect information about an individual or organisation without their knowledge and adware, which generates pop-up ads, on home computers without giving consumers proper notice.
Both types of software can be deposited on a computer by an e-mail attachment or as a web site download, often dramatically reducing the efficiency of host computers. It is also in breach of New York state laws banning false advertising and deceptive business practices.
At the time Intermix insisted that the practices being challenged by the Attorney General were historical and that the company “has been voluntarily and proactively improving these applications and related consumer disclosure and functionality for some time.”
In addition, according to Intermix, in the period since the initial inquiry by the Attorney General’s Office, the company has created the position of Chief Privacy Officer and joined the Network Advertising Initiative – a self-regulatory industry group.
